50+ Spotting Errors Questions For Practice I Verbal Ability

Verbal Ability is an important component of many competitive exams and aptitude tests. If you understand English grammar, one of the most important yet easiest exam topics is spotting errors or error spotting. The candidate’s command of the English language is assessed in this section. Competitive exams conducted all over India, cover a significant portion of verbal skills. Candidates must practice questions regularly to become ready for these tests. 

The guidelines and pointers to assist you in answering the sample questions on spotting errors/error spotting in the English language are provided in the following article. While there are several strategies for answering questions on spotting errors/error spotting, applicants can improve their scores by concentrating on their grammar. To tackle these kinds of questions, let’s start with some important guidelines

Topic	Explanation
What is Error Spotting?	Identifying and rectifying grammatical errors in English sentences. Commonly used in proofreading and editing written documents.
Rules for Error Spotting	—Check part of speech: Identify the function and role of words in a sentence. Eight parts of speech: interjection, adjective, pronoun, verb, noun, preposition, adverb, conjunction. —Identify sentence type: Three types of sentences are- interrogative, affirmative, and negative. Determine by sentence structure, presence of ‘not,’ or question words (why, how, where). —Check punctuation: Ensure proper use of commas, question marks, full stops, etc. Use commas to separate joined sentences, full stops for endings, and question marks for questions. —Identify pronouns: Pronouns replace nouns. Choose the correct pronoun when replacing a noun to maintain clarity and correctness in the sentence. —Identify singularity/plurality: Determine if sentences are singular or plural. Check for s/es endings on nouns. Ensure agreement between subjects and verbs.

Tips and Tricks to Solve Spotting Errors Questions 

Here we have listed certain tips and tricks to solve spotting errors questions:

1. Carefully read the sentence: This is the first step to solving questions based on spotting errors, as many times as you can, read it. Spotting errors typically occur in one or more parts of the sentence.

2. Verify that supporting verbs are used correctly and are related to the subject of the sentence. 

3. Verify that the main verbs in a phrase are used correctly. 

For example:

• Do/does/did + the first form of the main verb 
• As/have/had + third form of the main verb 
• Will/shall/would/should + first form of the main verb
• Will be/shall be/would be/should be + ‘ing’ form of the main verb

4. Verify that the articles are used correctly in a statement, such as 

• INDEFINITE ARTICLES: “A” is used for all consonant sounds (like “kite”) and “an” for all vowel sounds (like “MBA” and “umbrella”).
• FINAL ARTICLE: The pronoun “the” is used to refer to certain topics, such as historical locations, planets, and names of some continents, nations, rivers, oceans, and so forth (such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Amazon, the Indian Ocean, etc.).

5. Verify that proper nouns, such as Neeta Arora and the Great Wall of China, are spelled correctly and in capital letters.

6. Verify that all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs are used correctly in a sentence. Additionally, see if the right prepositions and conjunctions have been utilized.

7. Mistakes can be in punctuation, subject-verb agreement, singular-plural, and other parts of speech. Careful attention is needed to spot and resolve errors. Below we have mentioned some of the examples to help you understand better:

Punctuation Exercise	In the village. A large number of people live in one family? Due to this,” numerous disputes occur between them; it results in higher tensions between the families. Correct Way: In the village, a large number of people live in one family. Due to this, numerous disputes usually occur between them. It results in higher tensions between the families.
Singularity/Plurality Exercise	There are two families of bears that live in the forest. One bear has 5 children. Another one has 2 children. All these children fight with each other. Due to this, parents keep them apart. Correct Way: There are two families of bears that live in the forest. One bear has five children. Another one has two children. All the children fight with each other. Due to this, the parents keep them apart.

Commonly Occurring Errors

We have provided a list of the common errors which can be seen in these types of questions –

Nouns

A noun is used to identify a place, person, or thing. It can be singular and plural but the verbs used for them differ from singular to plural.

• Certain nouns being a singular form represent plurality and take a plural verb in a sentence for example – police, clergy, people, peasantry, cattle, etc.
• Certain nouns take the plural verb because of their plural form for example – Clothes, Scissors, trousers, amends, spectacles, etc.
• When a noun denoting weight, number, money, length, or measure is following a number the noun form does not change as long as another noun or pronoun follows it for example – Million, pair, meter, year, dozen

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that refers to the noun in the sentence in case of possession.

• When the pronoun ‘one’ is used it should be maintained throughout the whole sentence.
• For living people ‘whose’ is generally used and for things that are non-living ‘which’ is used.

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that represents the specialty, merits, demerits, quality, and fault of a person, place, or thing.

• Instead of ‘who’ or ‘which’, the relative pronoun ‘that’ is used after adjectives in the superlative degree
• ‘As’ is used both before and after the adjective to show equality.

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Adverbs

An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of an adjective or verb. Some of the adverbs have the same meaning and create confusion in people’s minds. These words include less and fewer. ‘Fewer’ is used for denoting numbers while ‘Less’ is used for denoting quantity and some adverbs such as little, a little, and the little, are used in different places.Make sure all these parts of speech are correctly used in the sentence.

Other Errors to Spot

Below we have mentioned some of the additional errors that might be there in the questions :

The different words in the sentence performing the same function should be in the same format. For example –

• All business students should be learning word processing, accounting and computer programming. (Correct)
  All business students should be learning word processing, accounting, and how to program computers.(Incorrect)

Modifiers modify the subject and have to be placed next to the subject. They change the meaning of the sentence. For example –

• Covered in mud, Mark helped the puppy.(Incorrect)
• Covered in mud, the puppy was helped by Mark. (Correct)

Correct words should be used in the correct places. For example-

• See you later (Correct)
  See you later (Incorrect)

Avoid the needless repetition of the same idea. For example –

• We will return back on Monday.(Incorrect)
• We will return on Monday. (Correct)

The question tag is positive and the sentence is negative and vice versa. For example

• It’s a bit early, is it? (Incorrect)
• It’s a bit early, isn’t it? (Correct)

‘Though’ is always followed by ‘yet’ in a sentence and not by ‘but’. For example –

• Though he is rich he is kind. (Incorrect)
• Though he is rich, he is kind. (Correct)

 ‘Not’ is never used with ‘unless’ because ‘unless’ expresses a condition that is always used in the negative sense. For example –

• Unless you do not pay the fine, you will not be excused.(Incorrect)
• Unless you pay the fine, you will not be excused. (Correct)

 ‘While’ implies the time duration of doing something and ‘When’ denotes a general sense. For example –

• When learning how to box, the technique is of utmost importance.(Incorrect)
• While learning how to box, the technique is of utmost importance. (Correct)

Improve your English Vocabulary for IELTS Writing and Speaking

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Basic Level Spotting Errors Verbal Ability Questions 

Question 1: The dog’s wagging its tail happily. 

Answer 1: The correct sentence is, “The dog’s wagging its tail happily.”

Question 2: She had laid on the beach all day, enjoying the sunshine.

Answer 2: The correct sentence is, “She had lain on the beach all day, enjoying the sunshine.”

Question 3: Each of the students is responsible for submitting their projects on time.

Answer 3: The correct sentence is, “Each of the students is responsible for submitting their projects on time.”

Question 4: Neither of the options seems suitable for our needs. 

Answer 4: The correct sentence is, “Neither of the options seems suitable for our needs.”

Question 5: The team, as well as the coach, were happy with their performance. 

Answer 5: The correct sentence is, “The team, as well as the coach, was happy with its performance.”

Question 6: John is taller than me, but I’m smarter than him. 

Answer 6: The correct sentence is, “John is taller than I, but I’m smarter than he.”

Question 7: My sister is good at playing the guitar, and so does my brother.

Answer 7: The correct sentence is, “My sister is good at playing the guitar, and so is my brother.”

Question 8: She is allergic to neither peanuts nor tree nuts. 

Answer 8: The correct sentence is, “She is allergic to neither peanuts nor tree nuts.”

Question 9: The company’s profits have risen significantly over the past year. 

Answer 9: The correct sentence is, “The company’s profits have risen significantly over the past year.”

Question 10: The news on the radio is always accurate. 

Answer 10: The correct sentence is, “The news on the radio is always accurate.”

Advanced Level Questions on Spotting Errors in English

Question 1: Which sentence is grammatically correct?

A. The sun set in the west.

B. The sun set in the west.

C. The sun had set in the west.

D. The sun is setting in the west.

Answer 1: A. The sunset in the west.

Question 2:Identify the error in the sentence: “She don’t like chocolate.”

A. She

B. don’t

C. like

D. chocolate

Answer 2: B. Don’t

Question 3:Choose the correct sentence:

A. The cat and dog is playing.

B. The cat and dog are playing.

C. The cat and the dog are playing.

D. The cat and the dog are playing.

Answer 3: D. The cat and the dog are playing.

Question 4: Which phrase is used incorrectly?

A. Each and every one

B. All and sundry

C. Far and wide

D. Sooner or later

Answer 4: D. Sooner or later

Question 5:Select the grammatically correct sentence:

A. I should of known better.

B. I should have known better.

C. I should has known better.

D. I should knows better.

Answer 5: B. I should have known better.

Question 6:Identify the error: “The car, as well the bicycle, were stolen.”

A. The car

B. as well

C. the bicycle

D. were stolen

Answer 6: D. were stolen

Question 7:Which sentence is correct?

A. Both the twins has similar interests.

B. Both the twins have similar interests.

C. Both the twins is having similar interests.

D. Both twins having similar interests.

Answer 7: B. Both the twins have similar interests.

Question 8:What is the correct form: “The news about the accident are/is shocking.”

A. The news

B. about the accident

C. are

D. is shocking

Answer 8: D. is shocking

Question 9:Choose the sentence with the correct usage of “few” and “less”:

A. There are fewer books on the shelf.

B. I have fewer friends than you.

C. Few people attended the meeting.

D. Few sugar is needed for the recipe.

Answer 9: C. Few people attended the meeting.

Question 10:Identify the error: “The team, along with their coach, is training hard.”

A. The team

B. along with

C. their coach

D. is training

Answer 10: D. is training

Question 11: The group of musicians [was/were] rehearsing in the studio.

A. was 

B. were

Answer 11: A: “Group” is a collective noun and takes a singular verb.

Question 12: Everyone, including the manager, [has/have] attended the seminar.

A. has 

B. have

Answer 12:A: “Everyone” is singular and takes a singular verb.

Question 13: The taste of these cookies [is/are] different from the others.

A. is 

B. are

Answer 13:A: “Taste” is singular and takes a singular verb.

Question 14: The news about the incident [is/are] spreading rapidly.

A. is 

B. are

Answer 14:A: “News” is singular and takes a singular verb.

Some Practice Questions 

We have provided some questions so that you may practice all that you have learnt. Spot the errors in the sentences given below –

• The Company were founded in the year of 2000.
• Each student must bring their umbrellas. 
• A little milk in the pot might prove useful.
• The trousers is missing
• This is a 15-meters scale.
•  One must help his neighbours.
• Which laptop is kept on charging?
• Though he is rich but he is kind.
• Unless you do not pay the fine, you will not be excused.
• Mathematics are a difficult subject.

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